PET SOUNDS | The Stars of 1966 Give Their Verdict on the Beach Boys' Masterpiece
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- July 1966,
A couple of months after the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds was released, several stars of 1966 such as Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Keith Moon, Andrew Oldham, Scott Walker and Spencer Davis, among others, share their opinions on the album and the genius of Brian Wilson.
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Pete Townshend: "Pop music is getting too complicated."
Also Pete Townshend: "I'm going to make an interactive multimedia rock and roll dystopian opera where people could put their biometrics in which I will feed in to a synthesiser in order to create the universal one note which will simultaneously appear on a motion picture *and* a four-sided record. I'll even make a graphic novel out of this if none of my plans pan out. How 'pop' can you get!?!?"
As intelligent as Pete is, I can't understand how he could dis this great album. His reasoning is way off track .
Maybe high idn but I'm guessing he had a change of heart if he gave it a few more spins.
Pet Sounds does take a few listens much like forever changes by love
@@robertwoodward9231 jealousy?
Pete's cool and all but he sure talks a lot of shit, always has. Best just to shake your head, laugh and pass on by when he starts spouting his nonsense. Actually, he's not completely off the mark here. Pet Sounds, Pepper are great and all but this is where the path started of music getting too self serious and up its ass just a year or so after '67.
@Comic Books' Drew Geraci's House o' Fun! Very true.Brian beat Pete to the punch about 3 tears sooner.Sad to say,Pete has always been sour grapes about other great artists.
No Pete, what pop needed in the late sixties was a simple four-sided rock-opera!
Actually...??THE WHO SELL OUT was the first true concept album!
They recorded it in LA using the same studios.
Amazing production. Much more elaborate than TOMMY which had a pretty basic production
Now, that's a clever comeback.
@@brucemarshall3446 🤡
I love you
Interesting that, The Who, one of the most Overrated bands in history, had bad things to say about a great record! Envy is an ugly little thing.
I'll bet that Pete Townshend wished that he'd re-read his own criticism of Pet Sounds five years later when he was trying to explain the concept of 'Lifehouse' to everyone around him.
It’s true, Pet Sounds was not The Beach Boys, but really just Brian. I think some of that early harsh criticism had to be before anyone knew about Brian’s mental struggles. Pete had his own demons back when he made his comments and he is on record saying he hated doing Who music. He had good days and bad days it seems.
Good Vibrations was a number one on both sides of the pond at that time, in contrast the highest that the Who had reached by the end of 1966 was #74 US Billboard, #2 UK, were the opinions of a lesser band of interest?
@@wobblybobengland I wouldn't say chart positions determine which band is inferior, but in this case I agree, the Who couldn't touch em
Yes, and what did it eventually turn out to be? “Who’s Next” a phenomenal record and miles ahead of “Pet Sounds”.
I bet he didn't !
"The Beatles need to make something simple to balance Pet Sounds out."
Writes Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and Magic Mystery Tour
Hahaha! That's exactly what I thought when I first read that interview with Pete Townshend.
@@YesterdaysPapers Yeah, I was thinking, wait till that last critic hears a simple "Hello Goodbye" lyric and sees that song climb to number one.
I just hope Pete realised how wrong he was when he listened Tomorrow Never Knows
@@StephenDoty84 Brilliant song
@@DJmisterpeluca Overrated mystical tosh
The Townshend comments are hilarious because he may as well have been talking about himself.
Interestingly, Brian Wilson was a huge fan of 'Tommy', so it could be that Wilson was the one who saw all along where pop music needed to go.
I never read Wilson comment on TOMMY.
Can you elaborate?
Thanks!
@@brucemarshall3446 Hi Bruce. Sorry, I can't locate it, but it was an interview that he did about maybe five or six years ago. I don't remember who the interviewer was but if you look for something around the mid 2010s, you might be able to find it. I'm a huge Who fan so all I remember was being pleased that he had such gushing praise for Tommy.
Pete is delusional! As usual...
I love how Pete says that The Beatles need to come back with a back to basics pop album to stifle the growing complexity in pop music spearheaded by Brian all the while The Beach Boys were recording the 1967 album Wild Honey, an R&B flavored album that completely abandons psychedelia. Once Bob Dylan released John Weasley Hardin in ‘68 most of the top pop acts, including The Beatles, would follow his “back to basics” approach from that album. Its pretty funny that The Beach Boys ended up being the first to do this considering Pete’s ridiculous rant.
Yes. It seems like Dylan was always directing the flock.
Yep, Brian was there first, but no one was taking direction from him anymore because the Smile project had collapsed. Different world entirely if that album had hit its original target date of December 1966, with Good Vibrations still riding the top of the charts.
Don't forget The Band
don’t forget smiley smile too - proof to me that psychedelia wasn’t just all flash. stripped down, surreal, minimalist psychedelic pop at it’s finest and simplest
I love Pet Sounds, and I also understand why Pete Townsend blasted it - because there was no way to perform that album in the 1960's. When you think about it, it was Bryan's solo tours in the 2000's when Pet Sounds and then Smile were played live - by a mini-orchestra of brilliant musicians who could also sing harmonies. There wasn't a chance in hell the Beach Boys could perform those songs without stripping them down. But then Sgt. Pepper couldn't be performed by The Beatles either. The Who were able to play the Tommy album live - it wasn't until Quadrophenia when they hit the wall! I get what Pete was wound up about, but anyone who's listened to Pet Sounds at least ten times will realise it's brilliance.
Townsend?
Being able to perform an album live is not an indication of how great the music is anyway.
I agree with that, Sgt Pepper wouldn't have got played live either (technically you could do it, with support). Now its common place to have a massive assortment of musicians on a tour if needed by the band. Back then it was in the bus / van to the club for most people. You got pack the entire band. I can't think of which Floyd album it is but inside the gatefold you see the band with all their instruments laid out and the bus, that is so far removed from beat.
Songs from Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations have always been among their best live performances though
Who cares if a song has to be stripped down to be played live. If a song is great, then it’s a great song. Why would you want a brilliant , once in a generation talent writing music for the lowest common denominator?
I'm impressed by Andrew Oldham's comments. I always thought of him as a marketing wiz and a brand developer. He deeply appreciated music too.
His comment has aged substantially better than Pete Townsend.
I'd always suspected he was in the business due to a genuine passion for music, but I was never sure until I saw his review here, as a life long Stones fan it brings me joy
Oldman even took out a full page ad in a British mag lauding Pet Sounds.
If there is anything that Pete Townsend is never short on, it's his opinions, which I rarely ever agree with.
And it was for that very reason, he was the “pop star” that I most wanted to have a few beers with. Until that nasty bit of publicity surrounding child porn.
Pete rarely agrees with himself.
Pete has a lot of great opinions, I love hearing what he says, but he was in a strange state of mind around then. Saying things about not having quality etc etc. Pete makes some of the best comments ever, but every now and then he says something is just incredibly pessimistic, I assume he was in a bad mood.
“I think it was in May of '67; we were on the road - Sgt. Pepper('s Lonely Hearts Club Band) came out. Before that, at the end of '66, in America, Pet Sounds came out by the Beach Boys. And although neither of them were narrative concepts, they were definitely poetic stories. They were gatherings of images and ideas that added up to a new way of putting songs together. And from that moment on, I think the message was out there: 'If that's what you wanna do - do it.'” Pete Townshend (2021)
Thanks for posting this. A lot of people in UA-cam land seem to forget that when Pete said what he said in 1966 about "Pet Sounds," Pete was either 21 or 22 years old, brash, and egotistical. Pete looks up to Brian Wilson as a genius.
It took me a long time to understand what was so great about Pet Sounds. I like a few songs but for the most part I thought it failed to live up to the hype surrounding it. But as I listened to it years later I began to enjoy more songs. I wouldn't rank it among my favourite albums but songs like Sloop John B, God Only Knows, and especially I Just Wasn't Made For These Times I would rank among my favourite songs. After seeing the Brian Wilson biopic Love and Mercy I appreciate the album even more. It obviously derived from a personal place inside of Brian Wilson.
I agree. I also had a hard time getting into Pet Sounds at first. I found it to be kind of slow at times, but then when I realized just how many instruments per song were used, and how many unconventional instruments were used, I was blown away. I had no idea that the “clip-clop” sounds on God Only Knows that sound like horses trotting were actually plastic orange juice cups. I was blown away! I’ve known that song for YEARS and had no idea about the orange juice cups! Also, the reverberative percussion instrument on Caroline, No was actually a Sparkletts water jug. I knew those songs for years even before I finally listened to Pet Sounds all the way through, and it makes me love those songs even more. My favorite track on the album has to be You Still Believe In Me, from the plucked piano strings with Brian humming to the bicycle bell to the bicycle horn. Such an astounding album once you’re able to get into it. I also fell in love with the album even more after watching Love and Mercy. I’ve seen it twice already and I plan on watching it again very soon.
Well, Clapton loved this groundbreaking classic right away!! 😀Surprised to hear Moonie's disappointment with it as he was the biggest Beach Boys fan , but especially Pete's negative take on it for someone who is/was a champion of pop music. Seems Brian's orchestrations, and looking inward with expressions of his "inner self" put him off, but by '69 his own writing became more personal also
Moon was a huge fan of the Beach Boys but he only liked their early surf stuff. His favourite bands were early Beach Boys and Jan & Dean. Townshend later changed his mind and said "Pet Sounds" was a masterpiece. Although I don't really agree with what he says, I think it's kinda cool that he was saying the exact same things that the punk rockers would say ten years later.
Townshend has always been good at saying nothing good.
@@YesterdaysPapers *likely due to their early basis in Pop being in the Singles market only; the Beach Boys weren't trying to rely on streams of 3 minute 45's they were trying for 3o minutes long play something the Who couldn't c9nceive at the time*
*I cite their point of being only simple rock pop because why would Towhnsend explicitly go into detailing a future batch of "overproduced" records if the Standard 3 min-hit was what would sell*
@@YesterdaysPapers I wonder if Keith Moon changed his mind many years later.
The Beatles' Rubber Soul (American version) inspired Brian Wilson into creating Pet Sounds which inspired The Beatles to make Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. To this day, Paul McCartney says that God Only Knows is his one of his all time favorite songs and that it brings him to tears listening to the song.
Much as I love Scott Walker, he's just plain wrong here.
Ikr. I mean i listen to S.W. 4 and think that and pet sounds are kinda on the same level. I think he must have been inspired musically or at least by jealousy lol
I'm surprised at how dismissive Scott Walker was about Pet Sounds.
@@yummyjackalmeat I'd say _Pet Sounds_ is the better album overall, but "The Seventh Seal" and "Boy Child" from _Scott 4_ are honestly better than every track on _Pet Sounds_ in my opinion. Those two songs are absolute masterpieces.
@@SkeletonWord i didn't say otherwise, I was just expressing surprise because of what I see as similarities. It doesn't mean anything about anyone.
Oh the irony. If ever anyone went overboard with complex concept albums it was Pete Townshend. Like salt, a bit of "concept" goes a long way in a Rock stew.
Tommy, complex? Quadrophenia, complex? Hardly. Alienated, messed up kids at the root of each story.
@@genki2genki Alienation can be a complex theme.Think of the novels, plays and films written about it. My point was about Townshend's complaints that the Beatles were ruining Rock with complex concepts (which they weren't) and then immediately turning around with a concept album like Who Sells Out that eventually leads him to write "Rock Operas," as they were called. Maybe a better term is "unusually elaborate." I just preferred Townshend's songs without having them made into an evening of overarching stories.
@@genki2genki Complex by Pete's standards at the time. The early 60s were about incredibly simple ideas. A 2 minute single about a girl with very basic music. The idea of an entire album being important was considered revolutionary at the time. So Tommy and the other later Who albums were very complex by Pete's standards at the time. Townsend just ended up being completely wrong, rock became far more complex and better because of it. Going back to the 50s would've been stupid. Luckily in the end, Townsend is a very good follower.
Keith Moon was obviously deaf by 1966.
moon loved beach music. strange that he didnt want the boys to evolve while the who was doing just that
fact is, many beach boys fans didnt get pet sounds till years after it was released
Deaf, Drunk and Blind!…..Too soon? 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
great idea for a channel, taking these old magazine stories and presenting as a video. I hope to see many more! I have a few old 60s magazines... I will see if there is any material you could use!
is there a way to get in touch so maybe I could share some 60s magazine material?
Laura Nyro's revolutionary Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968) set the standard for pop complexity and emotional expression. "It blew everybody's mind" (Todd Rundgren). A big influence on Steely Dan. "Nyro probably influenced more successful songwriters than anyone" (Elton John, 2007). Nyro was a singing/songwriting teenage genius out of the Bronx, and the most commercially successful solo songwriter of the late 1960's. She performed at Monterey Pop 1967, aged 19. Songwriters Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Nyro was a genius.
Pet Sounds was , and still is , great psychedelia album , which was in sync w/ the times .1966 was a year of real social , civil change.
My mum got me listening to music,I was born in 1970 and it was around 83/4 I started to listen to my mums records and I remember listening to Pet Sounds and it was out of place looking back to what she had in her stack and it was she had loads of records ,mostly The kinks,The Who , I reckon she was a mod but I put a n Pet sounds and I always remember she said God only knows was the near as perfect as she’d ever heard ,the older I’ve gotten the more grateful I am for Sundays when she listened to records and for trusting me to not scratch them .
Keith Moon was a disciple of the Beach boys so I was surprised with his negative appraisal of the album. Probably because it was so different from the surf music he grew up with
Yes he was just disappointed it wasn't the same surf music that he loved.
Incredible, everything Keith Moon said is the exact opposite of true.
Gosh, he and Townsend just sound so massively ignorant.
I think it was jealousy and envy. They didn’t know how to handle those emotions so all they could do was spit on it.
Gosh everything Moon and Townsend said about Pet Sound were spot on !
@@FenceThis Rubbish! No it wasn’t.
MsAppassionata yea it was !
This album along with revolver and peppers transformed the rock and roll era into rock
And here is Pet Townsend on Pet Sounds in 2021 'Townshend went on to explain that the two “concept albums” that inspired him most wouldn't really be considered to be so by current standards: “I think it was in May of '67; we were on the road - Sgt. Pepper('s Lonely Hearts Club Band) came out. Before that, at the end of '66, in America, Pet Sounds came out by the Beach Boys. And although neither of them were narrative concepts, they were definitely poetic stories. They were gatherings of images and ideas that added up to a new way of putting songs together. And from that moment on, I think the message was out there: 'If that's what you wanna do - do it.'”
but, we have to remember that years later Pete Townshend changed his mind a lot, and in an interview he declared that his biggest influences were Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson.
He has always maintained it is kinks and the stones!
An absolute masterpiece. My favorite album of all time. I just wasn’t made for these times, the lyrics, man, I have never related to those lyrics more .. I LOVE YOU BRIAN WILSON
It's a bit mind blowing that the man who wrote "Tommy", "Life House" (revisioned as "Who's Next") and "Quadrophenia" was just a couple of years before, ragging on Brian Wilson for elevating pop music. Doesn't make me love Pete any less but ohhhh the irony.
Interesting segment and comments from the other 'Pop Stars' of the era. Thank you as always!
Thank you for watching.
How dare Brian Wilson make a fantastic and complex pop album that makes us have to put in more effort! -The Who
Pete Townshend: "The Beatles need to make a simple pop record to set everything straight". Voila: SGT. PEPPER. Sorry Pete, you misread the room.
Pete Townsend was yearning for Punk already!
so that he could bad mouth it
Three chord blunderment
And the internet
This channel is absolutely amazing 👏
Born in 1960, this is a wonderful trip back in time, I can't thank you enough, it's like the soundtrack to my life, literally.
Seismic, really no different than the way Pepper's was widely perceived by an emerging youth. Wilson captures a mood and innovation not of a collective group, but his mind.
Pete Townshend now loves pet sounds so i think that says a lot. An album so good even someone as opinionated and stubborn as Townshend can change his mind when he got older.
Pete IS a Taurus after all! Lol!
That may be the first thing I've heard Pete Townshend say that I didn't agree with or wasn't awestruck by. He sounded more like a record company executive than a band leader.
4:08 I'm sure Pete loved the simplicity of the next beatles record 🤣🤣🤣
Hey man, I LOVE this series. Binging them right now. So much fun - I love the hot takes! Ole Pete stirring the pot!
Yes...he seemed to delight in doing that.
My God - This is the greatest channel on UA-cam
I’m glad The Beach Boys went a different direction which resulted in Pet Sounds. I really enjoy that album on of my top 5 Beach Boys albums.
Have never understood the desire to keep music simple. Everything in this world is meant to progress.
Interestingly Roger Daltrey attended the London performances of Pet Sounds in 2002 and praised the album and Brian's performance
I never heard about this album until the Paul McCartney said that it partly influenced Sgt Pepper LP. I've since bought it on CD, CD with bonus songs, 4 CD set and CD with DVD.
Brian Wilson’s website boasts a quote from Townshend, which labels him a “genius”. It reads: “I love Brian. There’s not many people I would say that about. I think he’s a truly, truly, truly great genius. I love him so much it’s just terrible. And I find it hard to live with. ‘God Only Knows’ is simple and elegant. Was stunning when it first appeared. It still sounds perfect.”
I love the Who, but those comments are interesting about pop becoming too complicated to understand, considering what Townshend was working on:
1966 - Quads (failed rock opera)
- A Quick One (mini-opera)
1967 - Sell Out (concept album about a pirate radio broadcast full of radio announcements and commercials)
1969 - Tommy (rock opera)
1971 - Lifehouse (failed rock opera because it was too complex)
1972 - Rock Is Dead (failed rock opera)
1973 - Quadrophenia (rock opera)
He was probably only working on them because he saw others doing it. Maybe he found it frustrating. Never know with Pete because mostly he just likes to trash everyone else.
I’ll side with what the Beatles said about Pet Sounds. Pretty sure they know best.
"Pretty sure they know best". Yes, but he was replaced by Ringo.... Sorry, silly joke!
It does sound a bit like some of these commentators saw Pet Sounds and The Beach Boys as a direct rival to their own work and downplayed it while those who considered their music to be perhaps influenced by, but not detracted from, this album were very enthusiastic.
In other words 'Sour Grapes'.
Don’t forget, River Deep Mountain High by Ike and Tina Tuner, recorded in March 1966, not sure if Brian heard it before Pet Sounds came out, but do remember it was George Harrison and John Lennon,s favorite pop record they ever heard, had always raved about it, around this period! Brian Wilson has often mentioned Phil Spector as being a major influence on his work!
Of course it sounds fantastic. Hiring members of The Wrecking Crew will do that for an album. And I love Scott Walker but he was wrong on this one.
Again , Brian was expressing the saddness of their generation in 67 just like the Beatles did with Pepper. Brian reached out to them and was living the same emotions. One thing about both albums though , they did have a few few upbeat happy tunes on them. You can't get any better than "Would'nt It Be Nice" or "Sgt Pepper Intro"
I have to admit, I only like 4 songs on Pet Sounds but I do like those 4 songs a whole heck of a lot. However, I definitely respect Brian Wilson's talent for being able to conceive and produce those arrangements all by himself. Especially considering the primitive state of audio recording in the mid 1960's.
Curious to know which 4 you like. Personally I love the album and I’m an admittedly a huge fan of The Beach Boys so I think the album is up there with the best of all time. If I were to guess the songs it would have to be God Only Knows, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Sloop John B, and maybe I’m Waiting For The Day.
@@danardo559 "Caroline, No" instead of "I'm Waiting for the Day" and you got it. I don't disagree that it's a brilliantly made album. Just being honest and saying I don't personally like all the songs. The Beatles are my favorite all around "Pop-Rock" band and even they have songs I don't like. For instance, I think most of The White Album is too self indulgent with silly, half-baked songs but it also has some great songs that are my all-time favorites.
@@joeyday1252 I'm surprised you don't like "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" I think that showed Brian at his best when he made that
@@pervenchemusic - I like the lyrics to that one. "In My Room" is my favorite of Brian's "I don't fit in this world" songs.
Don't talk put your head on my shoulder is my favorite track. Hard to explain But it makes me cry
Townsend said next year it's going to get worse. 1967 was probably one of the best years in music.
I love the BeachBoys and the Who but I believe that year in particular Pete and the Who were not so Hot, neither was the guitar smashing rock theatrics; After Monterey 67 they'd have a genuine basis of relativity but the thing is they had a minor top 20 or so hit in america in mid 67 (post Monterey) "I can see for miles" had underperformed so badly in retrospect to the time, and effort put in by the Who. The result nearly forced Townshend to hang it up altogether they didn't get back on track until their better received "*mini-opera*" (A quick one/while she's away 1968 I believe) However the problem was that it still didn't relate well enough by then either to be a hit. In retrospect the beach boys had tried and true basis and foundation before the experiement with Pet Sounds; Brian additionally recognized the coming of the Counterculture, and their folky acid rock sounds well before it became mainstream, and he wanted to prepare a transition from surf to Soundblaster so by 66 the band would be set to have a new FRESH basis for SMiLE, however because pet sounds wasn't a gold hit either in 66 it fell off so their approach didn't work either their approach was lighter and more sensual than the Who or Hendrix which between 66 and 68 would've been the dominant style for a pop revolution. The Who was probly just venting like anyone who's dealt with a failure has done before some do it lighter like moon other have it really eat at em' (as with townshend) but they're both legends and Both "Sell Out", and "Pet Sounds" were great pinnacles of the strength of the acid rock revolution.
Funny how Townshend says pop, now you would say rock. He was right in a way, but maybe too soon. Rock did rock back to its roots, in 68 when The Band released their first, that had a massive influence on The Beatles, Clapton etc. Funny in a way as The Who started getting more elaborate with arrangements after that. I agree with him in the sense that keeping the root of rock was important, and later on rock split as you got the Prog movement/Fusion separating off.
Thing is, rock was considered pop back in the 60s (what a fall from grace nowadays huh?). The Beatles, the Stones, The Kinks, Beach Boys, these bands if you look at a lot of press and interviews during the 60s were referred to as pop bands.
The split between rock and pop happened in the early 70s with the rise of FM album-oriented rock radio as well as mainstream rock generally shifting towards progressive and hard rock
I would have thought Scott Walker would have been more than just bluntly dismissive of the hype around Pet Sounds - surely he appreciated the production and arrangements? - but around this point in his career he seemed to only go overboard with praise for easy listening and jazz performers. A brilliant but strange man.
My opinion exactly. Scott Walker is my favourite artist of all-time and all genres, "best in show", if you will. But he is just as savage about his own music. He is quoted as describing his second solo album as "the work of an over-indulgent man". He berated himself over the preponderance of 3/4 time signatures on "Scott 3", and just generally gave his catalogue the finger with the concoction of "Tilt". The extremely gifted singer-songwriters like he, Pete Townshend, Todd Rundgren and Neil Young seem to have an equally dynamic gift for self+deprecation.
Scott hardly ever had a good thing to say about any contemporary, ever. I say this as a MASSIVE Scott fan, but he just could not or would not be kind, at least in public, to any pop record.
Do you have some more stuff like this about the Beach Boys? It's super interesting to hear all these British thoughts about it, especially how Keith Moon who was a huge BB fan thought PET SOUNDS wasn't spectacular. It kinda makes sense though, that was such a huge jump from Today or Summer Days, especially their even earlier stuff. My opinion on Eric Clapton went a biiiit higher after this video.
I'll probably upload some more videos about the Beach Boys in the future. Yeah, it makes sense that Keith Moon didn't like Pet Sounds. The Beach Boys were his favourite band but he only really liked their early to mid-60s surf stuff. That was the stuff he loved, Beach Boys, Jan & Dean and so on...
@@YesterdaysPapers Please do! Again, your videos are amazing, thanks so much for them. They just give such a good luck into 60's culture and people it's insane. I really appreciate your work, editing is great and the music is always on point with every topic, besides having such great topics and themes. Nice work creating Pet Sounds vibe on this one!
pete was channeling mike love
@@YesterdaysPapers Keith wanted more "Fun Fun Fun" and let's go "Surfin"....he couldn't relate to Brian's more personal, melancholy music. Which is what a lot of bands and artists began releasing after this album broke barriers
@@thewkovacs316 The BEST (most accurate) comment on this page. Thank You for your keen observation.
Certainly no one, or very few, got it in the states at the time of release. Most were dumbstruck by The Beach Boys dramatic shift from sun, surfing and car songs.
I bought it as soon as it came out. I was 12. My older brother didn't like it at all being a surf beach Boys fan. But I played it over and over and loved it immensely. I guess I just wasn't made for these times really touched me as I was a huge fan of silent movies and early records like Enrico Caruso from the turn of the century. 12 years old and I loved it from top to bottom... even the train and the dog barking. :)
I chuckled when I heard the quote from Townsend, " The British pop scene needs the Beatles to come out of their hole and make a really simple pop record to sort things out. " Two months later, Revolver came out. One critic said, " It will change the direction of pop music. "
Keith is actually a massive beach boys fans, Keith actually wanting to sing help me Ronda multiple times on shows and apparently moved to California just because he was inspired by their million songs about California lol
so I wonder if they are just poking a bit of fun, who knows
Keith Moon loved their early 60s surf stuff but hated "Pet Sounds".
I thought it was interesting what Townshend had to say, especially about what he thought the Beatles needed to do. Revolver was released the next month. I wonder what he thought of that Album, and the Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane single and then Sgt. Peppers in '67? Given his comments at the time of the interview, I would say he would have thought the Beatles were going in the wrong direction with those albums/songs. Another reason I find his comment on the Beatles interesting is it provides insight into what others (well, at least Pete) thought of the Beatles and the influence they had on the pop scene.
In difference to Pete’s comments I say why not live and Let live If everyone else is doing pop why not mix it up with something different something psychedelic Throw in a couple of hit material tunes and your off And if like the other Beach 🏖 Boys albums better go buy and listen to those (pet) Sounds simple enough to me 🤔
Pete's comments sound like comments from Punk bands about prog rock 10 years later.
Townsend's the last one who should be ditzing "concept" stuff.
Townsend's comments were made in December of 1966, as the video states, by which point Revolver's been released for over 4 months.
i think i actually once read a track by track review of Revolver by Townshend... or was it ray Davies? anyway, they didn't like it much
I dig Keith Moon as much as the next guy, but the irony isn't lost when he specifically talks about the vocal aspects of the album lacking
Moon just loved the earlier Beach Boys music and was disappointed with the style change. Understandable when you're that big a fan of something. You don't want it to change.
Should be Pet Sounds with guest stars the Beach Boys on vocals.
It’s “funny” to see who “got it” on first listening, and those who didn’t. Then track their careers. Just amazing!
Moonie just wanted those surf and hot rod songs to go on forever. Surprising thing is, so did Pete!
Pete in fact has always said his big influences were the kinks and the stones.
*Pete Townshend getting beat to the punch by Brian Wilson*
GOD! DAMMIT!
A lot of people that talk about Tommy seems to forget that Townshend made a fucking 10 MINUTE SONG that same year. And not only that, he wanted CELLOS.
Andy Warhol did come out with a record that was anything but psychedelic. The Velvet Underground was light years ahead of their time.
The Velvet Underground did all the music on their own without Warhol. He just gave them a few bucks, but he had nothing to do with the music other than maybe encouraging Reed to throw a few more transvestites in the lyrics.
THOSE comments from the guy that ended up trying to concoct this epic "Lifehouse" thing that was so complex and convoluted he couldn't explain it to anyone???
This channel is great. The archival sublime.
The Who is my favorite band - but Townsend's comments were ridiculous. He probably said the first thing that popped into his head and then forgot what he said two minutes after saying them.
Pete must have been in a strange state of mind that day. He sometimes says stuff like that, but we all know he is a genius and he also wrote a lot of complicated music himself.
It gets on my goat.
It's a fact that Rubber Soul influenced Wilson into the Pet Sounds album. And in return Sounds spurred on Sgt. Pepper.
Well Townsend, when someone has a horizon of max 3 harmonies like you, Pet Sounds must be very hard to understand.
Crazy that the guys from cream (specially Ginger who mocked pop stuff back then including the stones!) liked the beach boys music and this particular album...cream where so damn heavy most of the time so for them to like such sensibilities and lyrics on a record is mindblowing to me. Pete townsend makes more sense to me with his pov since his kind of music and overall style was very much related to the heavy scene...but of course pete was kind of concerned that pop music would eventually be this clusterf- of complicated corny music. Pete and keith where more like proto punk rockers so it made sense in a way.
And then Pete writes a Rock OPERA!
@@deirdre108 hahahaha you got me over there bud...those are a bit over dramatic and cheesy at times. I like Who's Next the most and i realize that it has to be that it isn't a rock opera really.
@@cinematicpassages8884 I was thinking about "Tommy" being the rock opera. I think "Who's Next" was their best work, and probably in the top 10 rock albums of all times.
The Beach Boys were clearly a huge influence on The Beatles.
And vice-versa
Not really. Revolver only came out a few months after Pet Sounds so they didn't have time to be influenced by it. The only Pet Sounds sounding song on Revolver is Here, There and Everywhere. That was possibly written months prior. The only Beach Boys sounding song on Pepper's is She's Leaving Home. Everything else is very Beatles and a natural but large progression from Revolver. And hell, Revolver was just a similar large but natural progression from Rubber Soul which predates Pet Sounds and influenced it.
Paul might've said Pet Sounds influenced Pepper's, but I don't actually hear much of the influence. It's Beatles through and through. There's nothing like the title-track, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Getting Better, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!, Within You Without You, the reprise or A Day in the Life on Pet Sounds.
About Pete critisism - people change. Especialy since 60s were such a turbulent time in music, so you had to adapt to new ways of thinking, you had to expand your understanding of music if you didn't want to be forgotten soon, under waves of upcoming changes.
And they were young people, 100 percent sure that their own opinion is absolutely the right one. There was probably a lot of competivness and envy about them. It probably took years to get their ego straight. It's just a process of creative young people growth, that's all. And we here are witnessing only a part of it.
And thank you, Yesterday's papers, for providing us with these valuable informations.
Lennon and McCartney loved pet sounds btw
Eric Clapton in good form verbally for a rare occasion.
It's a BRIAN WILSON masterpiece. He only allowed the BB to sing on it.
Pete’s remarks on Sgt. Pepper’s completely contradict what he said here. what a wildcard
It's interesting that a lot of artists from the 60s considered what they were doing was pop and not rock or rock and roll. My guess is that in the mid 60s rock and roll was considered passe and was associated with the late 50s and the term rock didn't get used until the late 60s.
Correct. Pop, beat, R&B, etc... Those were the words that were used to describe music back then but rock wasn't really used until the late 60s and, as you said, rock and roll was associated with with the 50s.
I love Pete Townsend but he has occasionally been known to say things that could only come out of his backside. Didn't he write two rock operas for The Who? Was that too complicated for their audience? Keith Moon was just flat wrong.
If it hadn't been for my love of The Beatles and Stones I probably would have bought "Pet Sounds " in the 60s. As it was I spent most of my money on the Beatles and Stones music and never got around to listening to "Pet Sounds" until 2003 when I was 45 years old. It is a helluva a good album. I heard that The Beach Boys were heavily influenced by Rubber Soul when Pet Sounds was composed, and in turn it was "Pet Sounds" that influenced The Beatles when Sgt. Pepper was composed. The recorded animal noises between "Good Morning, Good Morning" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Reprise" is a supposedly a symbolic nod to The Beach Boys.
Same here. regarding Beatles. Stones and BB. but I loved ' Sloop John B" as a single!
@@brucemarshall3446 I did get the 45 of the BBs "Good Vibrations" but I didn't have it very long. It got melted on our sun deck on a scorching July afternoon in 1967. I was only nine and didn't know that records melted. I was glad I didn't take my new "Help!" album out there. I paid almost $3.00 for it. I got 75 cents per week allowance in those days but I supplemented it with paid chores. $2 for raking the yard. $1.50 for washing my dad's car. $1 for washing the dog. My father always came up with chores but my mom would try to make me feel guilty for not doing free chores out of love for the family. Give me a break. LOL
55 years ago………….👍👍👍
Well the Beatles did come out with Revolver in 66 which was a brilliant record (the english version) and the following year 67 release Sgt. Pepper, so much for simple pop, well for a little bit anyway.
3:00 Come on Pete. Listen to the lyrics. This is absolutely not sunshine, rainbows and lollipops. It's a very sad album.
crazy how "pop" was the ideal back then (for this crowd), but now "pop" would be considered a derogatory term
Rubber Soul inspired Pet Sounds, Pet Sounds inspired Revolver. True artists. "God Only Knows" made McCartney weep.
Townsend seems like he was a misery even back then!
Paul Mcartney knew what he was talking about.
Clapton on point. Surprised Ginger liked it!
Years later in his autobiography Pete brags on the album. Could it be he was jealous back then.
I am with Scott and Keith on this one.
I can appreciate what Pete said about the simplicity of pop, but that simplicity mirrored a bygone era. The Boomers were growing older and more sophisticated. I’d much rather listen to Surf’s Up or ‘Til I Die than Wendy or earlier BB hits.
Pet Sounds aka, Brian and the Wrecking Crew album.
As far as Townsend goes I've always had a sense he likes taking the piss out of interviewers.
"Vocals have all but disappeared with this album." Search UA-cam for "God Only Knows," vocals only. You want to hear some beautiful vocals, there you have it. The vocals are so great that the song almost sounds better that way.
These people were not famous for stability in their moods or opinions, and Tommy is from a year and a half after this. In any case, through this same fantastic video series, we know that Townsend raved over the far more complex Sgt. Pepper album only half a year later. In particular, he was (rightly) enthusiastic about "A Day in the Life". But again, half a year was like a decade in those heady times, and for these highly accelerated/immature/unstable people. I would really like to know Townsend's opinions about the single "Strawberrry Fields"/"Penny Lane", from December 1966, to see if he was at least consistent at that precise point in time. If he thinks Pet Sounds is too complicated but the Beatles' single is OK, then it will be curtains for Townsend's coherence.
Andrew Oldham say (in July, '66) that Pet Sounds (released May, '66) was the most progressive album of the year. Then, one month later (August, '66), the Beatles released Revolver ... and Mr. Oldham's assessment went right out the window.
"Andy Warhol will come over and start on his psychedelic bit, and everyone will walk around saying, 'that's what I thought all the time,' and the first person to explain it like that will cop the money." Hilarious but true.