This track is undisputedly one of the most underrated Wilson creations ever. Most folks go for 'God Only Knows' and 'Wouldn't It Be Nice', but this one is JUST as orchestrally strong and lyrically poetic.
For a man to do this at such a young age and as Brian always has said when song writing it comes from a higher place. Truly God given and nothing short of mind blowing.
I'm the only one who thinks that chorus ending is the best ending ever on a short song? The harmony is godly I have never heard something like it, goosebumps every time, and depending on my mood I cry sometimes. The song my fav from the band and all time top 2
Renan Araújo well now time has passed and I have this song with another 3 up there in my list. Sweet Thing of Van Morrison, Let Down of Radiohead and Nights in white Satin - Moody Blues :)
When their songs flowed out of our radios and phonographs during our teen years, we had no idea of all of the work it took to make them sound so great.
Or the heartbreak and conflict behind them. As a teenager all my friends were Beatles or Prog rock fans. I was the loner out there buying each Beach Boys album. Some retrospectively, some as they came out. I was buried by the vocal harmonies. Most nights, ironically 'in my room' just playing over and over my favorites. Years later I would see my first film, read my first book about the Beach Boys, and it just broke my heart all the in fighting etc that went on. I guess Brian etc were the only ones not actually experiencing the California Dream everyone else was lauding on the period at the time. And still, 50 years and over 5,000 miles away, Brian wrote the soundtrack to MY youth.
It's common for artists to achieve their craft in their late teens/early twenties. It's just that our modern culture exaggerates amd artificially amplifies the naivete/inexperience of youth.
Sloop John B, You Still Believe In Me and Pet Sounds (titled Run James Run) were already recorded before Brian heard Rubber Soul and would have been part of the Beach Boys next LP regardless of what the Beatles were up to. I think what Rubber Soul did was inspire Brian to find a lyricist who could help make an album that was thematically cohesive. I think instrumentally, the album that Brian was in the process of making always would have been brilliant.
@@BehindTheSounds that’s exactly what I was thinking. Based on Brian going from Today to California Girls, Let Him Run Wild, to this, Brian’s production was simply just getting better as it is, and the concept of it all being in the context of a unified album came a little later. I’m curious what Pet Sounds would have turned out like if Brian never heard Rubber Soul or got the thought of a whole great album in his head. I’m thinking like a more musically evolved and progressive Summer Days type of LP.
He could have very easily assembled an LP in the fall of 65 using these songs (as well as "The Little Girl I Once Knew" which was recorded in October and released in November as a single). But instead of working on another studio album, they opted to quickly record "Beach Boys Party!" in September...which was a quick solution to Capitol asking them to deliver a new LP for the Christmas season. Obviously Pet Sounds happened and it's great, but an alternate version of history where Brian immediately followed up Summer Days with another studio LP and not having Captiol unleash "Barbara Ann" onto the world as a monster hit single probably would have been the best thing for the Beach Boys longevity during that period. Having such a corny novelty song be such a huge hit at the exact time that the culture was starting to shift did not do them any favors, and having it release just a month after the aforementioned "The Little Girl I Once Knew" effectively cut the legs off of that song and doomed it to relative obscurity.
@@BehindTheSounds I have nothing much to add to this conversation, but it's incredible how the Beach Boys' carreer is littered with significant "what-ifs"
Oh my goodness. Chills, chills, chills. So many chills. This is seriously my most favorite song on this album, and my favorite song of all time as well. The beauty of everything- the instrumentals, the vocals, and everything else- is so perfectly pieced together.
This is my favorite off of the album as well. I loved "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "Sloop John B." as well. "Pet Sounds" has to be one of the top 10 albums of all time (personally I believe Tommy Roe's 1966 album, "Sweet Pea" was the best album ever, but that is just my opinion). Brian Wilson is a genius.
+Henry Johnson Yes he is! What is Sweet Pea like? Does it have the similar luxurious sound as Pet Sounds does? I may have to check it out, I'm always itching for good music.
It was more 60s bubblegum music (soft rock & pop combined), but the arrangements were simple and purely amazing. Even the songs that weren't bubblegum are just fantastic ("Sheila" sounds like a lost Buddy Holly record!). "Sweet Pea" was my favorite song on the album (and my favorite song of all time) because it was simple, cool... I don't know how to describe it! On the album, he also covered a few songs, such as "Pretty Flamingo" (a Manfred Mann song), "Wild Thing" (a Troggs song), and "Where Were You When I Needed You" (a Grass Roots song - written by P.F. Sloan ; he wrote the "Eve of Destruction"). What Tommy Roe and his producers did to those songs are cool - they were all transformed into bubblegum songs! Example, check out the original recording of "Where Were You When I Needed You" by the Grass Roots and then compare it to Tommy Roe's version. It's cool! Although the album might not have the luxury of Pet Sounds, "Sweet Pea" is a masterpiece.
I'm 73, have listened to - and loved - music all of my life.Every genre. And yes, I think 1965-66 sits at the centre of the musical universe. Of course, the Beatles rank among my gods, with Sgt Pepper. BUT.. Pet Sounds will be my favourite album to the day I exit life, stage-left. And on that album, this song is my pinnacle of perfection. That choral sequence of a few bars is the most beautiful sound I have heard - and ever will hear. I know now, because I have revisited it, listened, pondered, and thought about it regularly through the many decades of my life. It moved me to tears the first time I heard it, high as the proverbial kite, at a party when I was sixteen. At 73, older, grounded, and not much wiser, it still moves me to tears. ☮❤
Man, this was way ahead of its time musically. Brian supposedly had heard The Beatles "Rubber Soul" and was so inspired he had this epiphany of what would become "Pet Sounds"! But seriously I do not think Paul or John could have done what Brian did here!! Truly groundbreaking!
I agree, just as I think Brian couldn't do Revolver or Sgt.Peppers😸and that's what makes these two bands (and their respective geniuses) so incredible!
these videos are simply amazing, and this one is particularly beautiful. I am constantly reminded how great Brian is whenever I listen to almost any Beach Boys stuff, especially 1964-1967. Briallant, colourful, and powerful music.
Im remember listening to this song and pet sounds on lsd with 2 close friends.It was sublime and went on forever.It still does to this day..thank you Brian.
Nobody gains this type of talent or grows these melodies in their head, they're born with it. These are some of the best constructed melodies ever written, far as I'm concerned. Not to mention, the most out of this world vocal melodies ever recorded.
I agree, Lauren. And what about those ascending voice arpeggios that make the chorus sound even more twinkling ? I've listened to this song hundreds of times, I never heard that. So beautiful. So otherworldly. Pet Sounds really is the gift that keeps on giving.
Got this album yesterday after i got engrossed in these clips, particularly 'Wouldn't it be nice', 'Waiting for the day' & 'Thats Not Me'. Great to admire the legendary wrecking crew in action without vocals. That way you get to appreciate their class. Brian was awed at the time by Rubber soul but has quite a few masterpieces of his own.
i dont know you come back, i was kid 1966 age, 5 or 6 in liverpool, you had this and the brits such a so privileged time, but its here today and forever
Pet sounds is one of the greatest album in rock and roll history, it's an album that not much people understand and listen, so if you haven't listened yet, at least try it
The genius of this album came from one man's head, compared to Sgt. Pepper's coming from at least 5 people's heads. I think that says something for Brian Wilson.
***** Well, if the reprise isn't counted as a standalone song, there are 6/12 songs that are all or mostly Paul, 4/12 that are all or mostly John, one equal co-write (With A Little Help) and one George song. So songwriting is closer to 60/40 Paul, but the idea and motivation was all his, and supporting your original comment he did explicitly say Pepper was an attempt to equal pet sounds.
Just sounds like he's so in his element..This young guy surronded by the cream of LA's most expierenced studio players and he's so aware of what he wants..Awesome!!
these behind the sounds are amazing! they let the mere mortal listeners get their head around the fact that this young kid brian wilson shaped the entire sound right down to where to hit the snare drum right in the center to make it sound fullest... his ability to phonetically emulate what he wants the instruments to sound like is amazing... i have always had a theory: if you can sing or vocally mimmick a passage of music then you can learn it on an instrument. BW is a living natl treasure.
I can't pinpoint the exact instrument, but I just love the surreal carnival-like sound to the piece. Such a straightforward melody, yet it's incredibly pleasing and intricate to the ears.
Fantastic effort! I really enjoyed this video! Man, Brian worked so hard on these songs. Even after knowing this LP for years I still get so much out of it. It's magic.
This song and the whole album is some of the best music ever made. Brian is amazing beacuse he hears the songs before he makes them, and only someone like Brian would have thought of having a bicycle horn and bell on a song like this
pet sounds is the greatest pop album ever created, end of story. Sgt. Pepper is second. Paul had John and Visa versa, and they both had George Martin. However Brian is alone, writing, arranging and producing this music. His is a singular genius. Brians a gentle, sensitive artist.
Nice job dissecting this terrific song from Pet Sounds. Brian is only 24 years old yet so introspective. Two Obs: 1. Its Undisputed Leader for Hal Blaine! 2. Brian could be the second unlisted piano player. He knew keyboards to many instruments. And could play bass guitar as well. And that voice. I say it was Brian's best instrument.
Steve Douglas was actually the "leader" of the group, at least during Brian's sessions. He was the one that would help contract them for the sessions. Brian wasn't playing the piano in the master take. He was in the booth directing the session.
I'm in the middle of reading a book about the Beach Boys and the creative processes that went into the making of the Pet Sounds LP, and found this video fascinating!
Beautiful edit job on this vid. Love how you brought each vocal element into an overlay mix after covering the wrecking crew instrumentation. The last full sound becomes transcendent, the sum being greater than the parts, and revealing Brian's genius.
I confess : it took me about a month before I realized what I was listening to was genius , & after that--------for the entire summer & fall of '66, ' Pet Sounds " was played at least every day. ---------------WolfSky9, 74 y/o
I can relate exactly to what you are on about. 'Pet Sounds' is from long before me, yet here i am in 2021 obsessed with with the very same album 55 years later. It took some time to understand 'Pet Sounds' but with tools such as youtube i have gained a huge respect for Brian Wilson.
Wolfsky....I've been reading your comments a lot and often agree with you....never thought I'd meet someone who likes the BBs as much as I do...Carl is also my fav..Al could do the lead here..but Brian's is hard to beat...I like this song better than God Only Knows..Lefty52
I love his choice of instrumentation. I enjoy the bass harmonica. Sonically, I particularly like the recording on the Friends album. I do not know if that was engineer Chuck Britz on that one. But, the immediacy of the recording sounds so close and personal to me. Is it the presence control? Other albums do not sound like the Friends recording mix.
AFAIK Brian didn't work with Chuck Britz again after the Smile Sessions in 1967. Brian built a makeshift home studio in mid 1967 and that was where the majority of Smiley Smile and Wild Honey were recorded. Those were both engineered by Jim Lockert. In 1968 the home studio was upgraded to be more permanent and then Friends was recorded, engineered mostly by Lockert though he was ill for much of the sessions and Stephen Desper, who was recording their concerts on the road, was brought into fill in and is also credited as engineer of those recordings. After the Friends sessions Lockhert left his duties and Desper became their regular engineer after that for several years. The mix for Friends was the first stereo mix the group had ever made as the intentional final product (the earlier stereo mixes of their albums ca. 1963-64 were produced by Britz without Brian's input...and done mainly as an afterthought). The mono mixes for Smiley Smile and Wild Honey done by Brian are sort of notorious for their lo-fi aesthetic...quality wise they are a mixed bag and like Pet Sounds are several generations removed from the session tape. Engineering wise there was probably not much different between the way Lockert recorded Smiley/Honey/Friends, though technical advances in the studio could explain some of the difference you hear. The recent stereo mixes produced for Smiley and Wild Honey sonically sound very similar to Friends.
Ahead of his time... Maybe Jim Henson used this for inspiration a few years later. And we're all loving it today. This is reminding me of the Muppet Babies song they were introduced with (in the Muppets in Manhattan movie). Beautiful 👏
This was really cool. Granted it was "Love and Mercy" that put me on to this song (and the subsequent download of Pet Sounds) but I really love this song.
I don't know...this is the best ever of Brian Wilson isn't it...?...I buy all their stuff...you cannot buy this...very humbling..Behind The Sounds...I seen Brian and Al last year in my home town Liverpool....Privileged on both counts
I'd sure like to see what Brian's original lyrics are. Please someone let us know if you've seen them. To me, this song and his singing of it sound more like a prayer to God than a song to a girlfriend. Wonder what he first wrote and why he didn't record that.
Even classical composer John Adams said something along the lines that Brian understood better than any other pop-rock musician the value of harmonic surprise.
This track is undisputedly one of the most underrated Wilson creations ever. Most folks go for 'God Only Knows' and 'Wouldn't It Be Nice', but this one is JUST as orchestrally strong and lyrically poetic.
Yeah, Paul cried bitter tears when he heard this ;;)
pieter lucas maria lemmens Paul who?
Mr. Albright Paul from the Beatles.
+davebolter9111 Thanks, another one that thinks like me, this is pure perfect music composition. Very underrated.
+davebolter9111 I think that is the song I like the most, along with Wouldn't It Be Nice, Here Today or I Just Wasn't Made for These Times
"I wanna cryyyyyyyy..." puts me to tears dude. tears.
Hes our modern day Mozart. He hears it all before its made.
For a man to do this at such a young age and as Brian always has said when song writing it comes from a higher place. Truly God given and nothing short of mind blowing.
I'm the only one who thinks that chorus ending is the best ending ever on a short song? The harmony is godly I have never heard something like it, goosebumps every time, and depending on my mood I cry sometimes. The song my fav from the band and all time top 2
+Azku Shang Nope, you're not alone. Well said.
I'm curious now. What would be your all time top 1?
Renan Araújo well now time has passed and I have this song with another 3 up there in my list. Sweet Thing of Van Morrison, Let Down of Radiohead and Nights in white Satin - Moody Blues :)
+ Charles Mingus- Myself when I'm Real, a piano piece. And your top 3 or so?? XD i told you mine now I'm curious
The BB's were probsbly the best vocal group in popular music.
When their songs flowed out of our radios and phonographs during our teen years, we had no idea of all of the work it took to make them sound so great.
Or the heartbreak and conflict behind them. As a teenager all my friends were Beatles or Prog rock fans. I was the loner out there buying each Beach Boys album. Some retrospectively, some as they came out. I was buried by the vocal harmonies. Most nights, ironically 'in my room' just playing over and over my favorites. Years later I would see my first film, read my first book about the Beach Boys, and it just broke my heart all the in fighting etc that went on. I guess Brian etc were the only ones not actually experiencing the California Dream everyone else was lauding on the period at the time. And still, 50 years and over 5,000 miles away, Brian wrote the soundtrack to MY youth.
Brian was only 23 years old when this was recorded. Amazing command of what he wanted and a polite man.
It's common for artists to achieve their craft in their late teens/early twenties. It's just that our modern culture exaggerates amd artificially amplifies the naivete/inexperience of youth.
The Genius Brian Wilson, with the wrecking crew, in my eye this is beautiful music
ace
Nice
This is beyond beautiful! Brian's sweet, pitch-perfect voice was ideal for this song.
Brian Wilson is a one of a kind musical genius.
How fortunate to have come of age when the voices of Brian and Carl Wilson were in their prime. It's true that timing is everything.
Couldn’t believe my ears the first time I heard this, and after the thousandth, still can’t. 🤯
Everybody boom dings once in a while...
These sessions predating Dec 1965 makes me wonder if Brian’s vision for making a legendary album (or at the very least great) predated Rubber Soul.
Sloop John B, You Still Believe In Me and Pet Sounds (titled Run James Run) were already recorded before Brian heard Rubber Soul and would have been part of the Beach Boys next LP regardless of what the Beatles were up to. I think what Rubber Soul did was inspire Brian to find a lyricist who could help make an album that was thematically cohesive.
I think instrumentally, the album that Brian was in the process of making always would have been brilliant.
@@BehindTheSounds that’s exactly what I was thinking. Based on Brian going from Today to California Girls, Let Him Run Wild, to this, Brian’s production was simply just getting better as it is, and the concept of it all being in the context of a unified album came a little later. I’m curious what Pet Sounds would have turned out like if Brian never heard Rubber Soul or got the thought of a whole great album in his head. I’m thinking like a more musically evolved and progressive Summer Days type of LP.
He could have very easily assembled an LP in the fall of 65 using these songs (as well as "The Little Girl I Once Knew" which was recorded in October and released in November as a single). But instead of working on another studio album, they opted to quickly record "Beach Boys Party!" in September...which was a quick solution to Capitol asking them to deliver a new LP for the Christmas season.
Obviously Pet Sounds happened and it's great, but an alternate version of history where Brian immediately followed up Summer Days with another studio LP and not having Captiol unleash "Barbara Ann" onto the world as a monster hit single probably would have been the best thing for the Beach Boys longevity during that period.
Having such a corny novelty song be such a huge hit at the exact time that the culture was starting to shift did not do them any favors, and having it release just a month after the aforementioned "The Little Girl I Once Knew" effectively cut the legs off of that song and doomed it to relative obscurity.
@@BehindTheSounds I have nothing much to add to this conversation, but it's incredible how the Beach Boys' carreer is littered with significant "what-ifs"
when the song was first titled In My Childhood
This song blows me away. Wow! The harmonies.
Brian had so much personality
Extremely beautiful song. My personal favorite beach boys song
Oh my goodness. Chills, chills, chills. So many chills. This is seriously my most favorite song on this album, and my favorite song of all time as well. The beauty of everything- the instrumentals, the vocals, and everything else- is so perfectly pieced together.
This is my favorite off of the album as well. I loved "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "Sloop John B." as well. "Pet Sounds" has to be one of the top 10 albums of all time (personally I believe Tommy Roe's 1966 album, "Sweet Pea" was the best album ever, but that is just my opinion). Brian Wilson is a genius.
+Henry Johnson Yes he is! What is Sweet Pea like? Does it have the similar luxurious sound as Pet Sounds does? I may have to check it out, I'm always itching for good music.
It was more 60s bubblegum music (soft rock & pop combined), but the arrangements were simple and purely amazing. Even the songs that weren't bubblegum are just fantastic ("Sheila" sounds like a lost Buddy Holly record!). "Sweet Pea" was my favorite song on the album (and my favorite song of all time) because it was simple, cool... I don't know how to describe it!
On the album, he also covered a few songs, such as "Pretty Flamingo" (a Manfred Mann song), "Wild Thing" (a Troggs song), and "Where Were You When I Needed You" (a Grass Roots song - written by P.F. Sloan ; he wrote the "Eve of Destruction"). What Tommy Roe and his producers did to those songs are cool - they were all transformed into bubblegum songs! Example, check out the original recording of "Where Were You When I Needed You" by the Grass Roots and then compare it to Tommy Roe's version. It's cool!
Although the album might not have the luxury of Pet Sounds, "Sweet Pea" is a masterpiece.
I'm 73, have listened to - and loved - music all of my life.Every genre. And yes, I think 1965-66 sits at the centre of the musical universe.
Of course, the Beatles rank among my gods, with Sgt Pepper.
BUT..
Pet Sounds will be my favourite album to the day I exit life, stage-left. And on that album, this song is my pinnacle of perfection.
That choral sequence of a few bars is the most beautiful sound I have heard - and ever will hear.
I know now, because I have revisited it, listened, pondered, and thought about it regularly through the many decades of my life.
It moved me to tears the first time I heard it, high as the proverbial kite, at a party when I was sixteen.
At 73, older, grounded, and not much wiser, it still moves me to tears.
☮❤
This is the track that really caught me when I first listened to the Pet Sounds album back in November 1966
i can never listen to these sounds without getting the same feeling every time: hope.
Thanks
Best Ever Brian Wilson....best ever...so beautiful, The Wrecking Crerw
One greatest records of rock and roll history
Man, this was way ahead of its time musically. Brian supposedly had heard The Beatles "Rubber Soul" and was so inspired he had this epiphany of what would become "Pet Sounds"! But seriously I do not think Paul or John could have done what Brian did here!! Truly groundbreaking!
I agree, just as I think Brian couldn't do Revolver or Sgt.Peppers😸and that's what makes these two bands (and their respective geniuses) so incredible!
Now that was a genius at work. Simply awesome.
Stuff like this gives me a deeper appreciation for the work and love Brian put into his music.
i wanna cry
Orignal title "In My childhood" Brian had music but no lyrics. Truly amazing
these videos are simply amazing, and this one is particularly beautiful. I am constantly reminded how great Brian is whenever I listen to almost any Beach Boys stuff, especially 1964-1967. Briallant, colourful, and powerful music.
Im remember listening to this song and pet sounds on lsd with 2 close friends.It was sublime and went on forever.It still does to this day..thank you Brian.
Nobody gains this type of talent or grows these melodies in their head, they're born with it. These are some of the best constructed melodies ever written, far as I'm concerned. Not to mention, the most out of this world vocal melodies ever recorded.
A genius at work! Pet Sounds is In my all time top 3 best albums. Beautiful.
Azku Shang in my opinion it’s 1#
BehindTheSounds is the best ever brilliant post on UA-cam
A genius at work. Nobody ever did it better or ever will do it better than he did!
The part with the isolated harmonizing was crazy!! Gave me goosebumps! I love this song!
I agree, Lauren.
And what about those ascending voice arpeggios that make the chorus sound even more twinkling ?
I've listened to this song hundreds of times, I never heard that. So beautiful. So otherworldly.
Pet Sounds really is the gift that keeps on giving.
Piano strings being plucked with a bobbie pin during the intro. Very tricky to pull off, I believe it takes two people. They nailed it.
Privileged for this, so humbling Brian Wilson composing this music, Such A Beautiful Song
Got this album yesterday after i got engrossed in these clips, particularly 'Wouldn't it be nice', 'Waiting for the day' & 'Thats Not Me'. Great to admire the legendary wrecking crew in action without vocals. That way you get to appreciate their class. Brian was awed at the time by Rubber soul but has quite a few masterpieces of his own.
i dont know you come back, i was kid 1966 age, 5 or 6 in liverpool, you had this and the brits such a so privileged time, but its here today and forever
the vocals are absolutely beautiful
Pet sounds is one of the greatest album in rock and roll history, it's an album that not much people understand and listen, so if you haven't listened yet, at least try it
The genius of this album came from one man's head, compared to Sgt. Pepper's coming from at least 5 people's heads. I think that says something for Brian Wilson.
Because of Pet Sounds Paul McCartney wanted to do Sgt. Pepper's to surpass it.
muse andincubus Actually he wrote 3/4 of the songs. John wrote about 24% of the album and George was the 1%
***** Well, if the reprise isn't counted as a standalone song, there are 6/12 songs that are all or mostly Paul, 4/12 that are all or mostly John, one equal co-write (With A Little Help) and one George song.
So songwriting is closer to 60/40 Paul, but the idea and motivation was all his, and supporting your original comment he did explicitly say Pepper was an attempt to equal pet sounds.
***** well, maybe Revolver ( 08/05/66) did it before.
Viuomar
Revolver was in the works by the time Pet Sounds was released, Pet Sounds would've had a bit of influence on Revolver.
wow, all of his works even the obscure are amazing
Just sounds like he's so in his element..This young guy surronded by the cream of LA's most expierenced studio players and he's so aware of what he wants..Awesome!!
One of the Beach Boys' finest love ballads.
these behind the sounds are amazing! they let the mere mortal listeners get their head around the fact that this young kid brian wilson shaped the entire sound right down to where to hit the snare drum right in the center to make it sound fullest... his ability to phonetically emulate what he wants the instruments to sound like is amazing... i have always had a theory: if you can sing or vocally mimmick a passage of music then you can learn it on an instrument. BW is a living natl treasure.
all so beautiful
Creative genius at work an the blending just magnificent.
This is one of if not the greatest song ever created everything is so put together and perfect #briansgotbrains
I can't pinpoint the exact instrument, but I just love the surreal carnival-like sound to the piece. Such a straightforward melody, yet it's incredibly pleasing and intricate to the ears.
I believe that’s the harpsichord
LOVE these vids man. Love hearing Brian in the studio at the top of his game. It's just non-stop ownage 😎
my favourite song on Pet sounds. Blows me away everytime
Fantastic effort! I really enjoyed this video! Man, Brian worked so hard on these songs. Even after knowing this LP for years I still get so much out of it. It's magic.
Yow! When those harmonies come in at 6:10.. Oh my God!
Same, I wasn't expecting it while I was listening and it really hits you when it comes in
This song and the whole album is some of the best music ever made. Brian is amazing beacuse he hears the songs before he makes them, and only someone like Brian would have thought of having a bicycle horn and bell on a song like this
A beautiful melancholic epic that transcends the world of psychedelia.
pet sounds is the greatest pop album ever created, end of story. Sgt. Pepper is second. Paul had John and Visa versa, and they both had George Martin. However Brian is alone, writing, arranging and producing this music. His is a singular genius. Brians a gentle, sensitive artist.
Paul also wrote so many songs alone
How beautiful.
Nice job dissecting this terrific song from Pet Sounds. Brian is only 24 years old yet so introspective. Two Obs: 1. Its Undisputed Leader for Hal Blaine! 2. Brian could be the second unlisted piano player. He knew keyboards to many instruments. And could play bass guitar as well. And that voice. I say it was Brian's best instrument.
Steve Douglas was actually the "leader" of the group, at least during Brian's sessions. He was the one that would help contract them for the sessions.
Brian wasn't playing the piano in the master take. He was in the booth directing the session.
0:40 Hal's face is perfect!...It's as if he's saying "You want me to play what?!" :)
I've always read deep emotion and poignancy into the expression. I think it's mainly because of the music playing behind him at 3:25.
thanks for the upload...you do a great job with these.
absolutely visionary
I have it memorized...why not, I've been hearing it for fifty years?
I'm in the middle of reading a book about the Beach Boys and the creative processes that went into the making of the Pet Sounds LP, and found this video fascinating!
Glorious.
Beautiful edit job on this vid. Love how you brought each vocal element into an overlay mix after covering the wrecking crew instrumentation. The last full sound becomes transcendent, the sum being greater than the parts, and revealing Brian's genius.
A year and a half after the "British Invasion" started, Brian is out in California, putting this together.
I didn't know Barney Kessel played on Pet Sounds. Amazing guitarist.
I confess : it took me about a month before I realized what I was listening to was genius , & after that--------for the entire summer & fall of '66, ' Pet Sounds " was played at least every day. ---------------WolfSky9, 74 y/o
I can relate exactly to what you are on about. 'Pet Sounds' is from long before me, yet here i am in 2021 obsessed with with the very same album 55 years later. It took some time to understand 'Pet Sounds' but with tools such as youtube i have gained a huge respect for Brian Wilson.
The montages are awesome! haha
Best Ever Post, Behind The Sounds, in my opinion
1:59 older brian voice comes out here
Facts before all the drugs
I used to think the horn was a steel drum until someone pointed out that it was a horn
Wolfsky....I've been reading your comments a lot and often agree with you....never thought I'd meet someone who likes the BBs as much as I do...Carl is also my fav..Al could do the lead here..but Brian's is hard to beat...I like this song better than God Only Knows..Lefty52
I love his choice of instrumentation. I enjoy the bass harmonica. Sonically, I particularly like the recording on the Friends album. I do not know if that was engineer Chuck Britz on that one. But, the immediacy of the recording sounds so close and personal to me. Is it the presence control? Other albums do not sound like the Friends recording mix.
AFAIK Brian didn't work with Chuck Britz again after the Smile Sessions in 1967. Brian built a makeshift home studio in mid 1967 and that was where the majority of Smiley Smile and Wild Honey were recorded. Those were both engineered by Jim Lockert. In 1968 the home studio was upgraded to be more permanent and then Friends was recorded, engineered mostly by Lockert though he was ill for much of the sessions and Stephen Desper, who was recording their concerts on the road, was brought into fill in and is also credited as engineer of those recordings. After the Friends sessions Lockhert left his duties and Desper became their regular engineer after that for several years.
The mix for Friends was the first stereo mix the group had ever made as the intentional final product (the earlier stereo mixes of their albums ca. 1963-64 were produced by Britz without Brian's input...and done mainly as an afterthought). The mono mixes for Smiley Smile and Wild Honey done by Brian are sort of notorious for their lo-fi aesthetic...quality wise they are a mixed bag and like Pet Sounds are several generations removed from the session tape. Engineering wise there was probably not much different between the way Lockert recorded Smiley/Honey/Friends, though technical advances in the studio could explain some of the difference you hear. The recent stereo mixes produced for Smiley and Wild Honey sonically sound very similar to Friends.
"Everybody boom dings every once in awile" 🤣🤣🤣
Ahead of his time... Maybe Jim Henson used this for inspiration a few years later. And we're all loving it today. This is reminding me of the Muppet Babies song they were introduced with (in the Muppets in Manhattan movie). Beautiful 👏
This was really cool. Granted it was "Love and Mercy" that put me on to this song (and the subsequent download of Pet Sounds) but I really love this song.
Just listened to All You Need is Love by the Beatles and noticed how the harpsichord there is inspired by the Pet Sounds album!
Perhaps..but the Beatles used harpsichord before..so maybe Brian was influenced by THEM!
Overdubbing an additional harpsichord track on the finished instrumental to make it sound even more whimsical, who else but Brian...
Brian you are a music God!!😂
Amazing... just fantastally amazing.
fozzzzzzy bearrrrrrrrrrrrrr :) brian's BEST contributor-influence! :)
best song ever Brian Wilson
@mrtwang32 That is the absolute truth! That's why he had such an impact on the Beatles, particularly Paul and George Martin.
2:49 - Ritz looks like Martin Van Buren
My church choir could only hope to approach this sound.
"bom bom bom DOO DOO DOO"
love this collage
wow how weird I found this today 50 years to the day this was recorded./...never got into the Beach Boys before...this must be fate.
blasterkid Oh you're gonna love getting to know Brian
wondrous beauty
Thank You!
I don't know...this is the best ever of Brian Wilson isn't it...?...I buy all their stuff...you cannot buy this...very humbling..Behind The Sounds...I seen Brian and Al last year in my home town Liverpool....Privileged on both counts
I'd sure like to see what Brian's original lyrics are. Please someone let us know if you've seen them. To me, this song and his singing of it sound more like a prayer to God than a song to a girlfriend. Wonder what he first wrote and why he didn't record that.
"Everybody boom ding's once in awhile"
The guitars are the coolest part of this song I think
Everybody boom jings. Not sure there were creative geniuses as good talented as Brian Wilson or John Lennon of the 60’s.
Lennon? I would say Mcartney, largely for Sgt.
Very cool, Very well done.....I dig all the info thru out!
Wonderful video...Five stars......Eloy
6:09 I always wondererd why they resolve that passage in such a strange, almost jarring way.
Even classical composer John Adams said something along the lines that Brian understood better than any other pop-rock musician the value of harmonic surprise.
Best Ever
Thank u