Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was produced, arranged, and primarily composed by Brian Wilson with guest lyricist Tony Asher. Recorded largely between January and April 1966, it furthered the orchestral sound introduced in The Beach Boys Today!. Initially promoted as "the most progressive pop album ever", Pet Sounds is recognized for its ambitious production, sophisticated harmonic structures, and coming of age themes. It is widely regarded as among the greatest and most influential albums in music history.
Wilson viewed Pet Sounds as a solo album and attributed its inspiration partly to marijuana use and an LSD–rooted spiritual awakening. Galvanized by the work of his rivals, he aimed to create "the greatest rock album ever made", surpassing the Beatles' Rubber Soul and extending Phil Spector's Wall of Sound innovations. His orchestrations blended pop, jazz, exotica, classical, and avant-garde elements, combining rock instrumentation with layered vocal harmonies, found sounds, and instruments not normally associated with rock, such as French horn, flutes, Electro-Theremin, bass harmonica, bicycle bells, and string ensembles. Featuring the most complex and challenging instrumental and vocal parts of any Beach Boys album, it was their first in which studio musicians, such as the Wrecking Crew, largely replaced the band on their instruments, and the first time any group had departed from their usual small-ensemble pop/rock band format to create a full-length album that could not be replicated live. Its unprecedented total production cost exceeded $70,000.
An early rock concept album, it explored introspective themes through songs like "You Still Believe in Me", about self-awareness of personal flaws; "I Know There's an Answer", a critique of escapist LSD culture; and "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times", addressing social alienation. Lead single "Caroline, No" was issued as Wilson's official solo debut, followed by the group's "Sloop John B" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice". The album received a lukewarm critical response in the U.S. but peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. Bolstered by band publicist Derek Taylor's promotional efforts, it was lauded by critics and musicians in the UK, reaching number 2 on the Record Retailer chart, and remaining in the top ten for six months. A planned follow-up album, Smile, extended Wilson's ambitions, propelled by the Pet Sounds outtake "Good Vibrations", but was abandoned and substituted with Smiley Smile in 1967.
Pet Sounds is credited with introducing novel orchestration techniques, chord voicings, and structural harmonies while also revolutionizing music production and the role of producers, especially through its level of detail and Wilson's use of the studio as compositional tool. It helped elevate the recognition of popular music as an art form and albums as cohesive works, and contributed to the development of genres like orchestral pop, psychedelia, soft rock/sunshine pop, and progressive rock/pop, as well as synthesizer adoption. Originally mastered in mono and Duophonic, the 1997 expanded reissue, The Pet Sounds Sessions, debuted its first true stereo mix. Long overshadowed by the Beatles' contemporaneous output, Pet Sounds initially gained limited mainstream recognition until 1990s reissues revived its prominence, leading to top placements on all-time greatest album lists by publications such as Rolling Stone, NME, Mojo, Uncut, and The Times. Wilson toured performing the album in the early 2000s and late 2010s. Inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in 2004 for its cultural and artistic significance, Pet Sounds was certified platinum in the U.S. for over one million sales.
Background
The Beach Boys' sixth album, All Summer Long, concluded their beach-themed period, after which their music shifted toward an increasingly divergent stylistic and lyrical direction. In January 1965, 22-year-old Brian Wilson, leader of the band, declared his withdrawal from touring to concentrate on songwriting and studio production. The rest of the group—Brian's brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine—continued touring without him; session musician Glen Campbell initially filled his role, followed by Bruce Johnston, who, alongside Terry Melcher, had been a Columbia Records staff producer and member of the Ripchords and Bruce & Terry.Through 1965, Wilson showcased great advances in his musical development with the albums The Beach Boys Today! and Summer Days . Released in March, Today! departed from the group's earlier sound through orchestral arrangements, introspective themes, and a move away from surfing, car, and simplistic love motifs. Its lyrics adopted an autobiographical tone, portraying narrators as vulnerable, neurotic, and insecure, while the second half of the record contained five songs with a unified theme. Summer Days, issued three months later, bridged Wilson's progressive style with the band's pre-1965 approach.
On July 12, Wilson began recording "Sloop John B" but temporarily shelved the track to focus on Beach Boys' Party!, an informal studio album created to meet Capitol Records' demand for a Christmas release. That October, he and his wife, 17-year-old Marilyn Rovell, moved from West Hollywood to a home on Laurel Way in Beverly Hills, where he later stated he spent subsequent months contemplating "the new direction of the group". Between October and December, he refined "Sloop John B" and recorded six new compositions, including "The Little Girl I Once Knew", which was released as a single in November. In December, Capitol issued "Barbara Ann" from Party! as a single without consulting the band; Wilson publicly dismissed it as unrepresentative of their upcoming work. From January 7 to 29, 1966, the bandmates toured Japan and Hawaii.
Writing sessions
In 1965, Wilson met Tony Asher, a 26-year-old lyricist and advertising jingle writer, at a Los Angeles recording studio. After exchanging song ideas, Wilson learned of Asher's abilities through mutual acquaintance Loren Schwartz. That December, Wilson proposed a lyric collaboration to Asher, seeking a new creative partnership "completely different" from his prior work. Asher accepted, and their writing sessions began within ten days, starting with "You Still Believe in Me".Wilson and Asher collaborated over a two-to-three week period in early 1966, likely January through February, writing at Wilson's home. Sessions typically started with Wilson introducing musical fragments—such as chord patterns or melodic ideas he had developed over time—discussing records for their distinctive feel, or proposing a lyrical theme. Their preliminary sketches, which they referred to as "feels", were developed with occasional marijuana use. Lyrics were typically completed prior to recording sessions, which often commenced immediately after composition, though studio booking times were never planned in advance.
Asher maintained that his primary role was to provide feedback on Wilson's developing melodies and chord progressions, though they exchanged ideas throughout the process. Regarding their lyrical collaboration, he explained, "The general tenor of the lyrics was always his and the actual choice of words was usually mine. I was really just his interpreter." Asher later cited significant musical contributions to "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times", "Caroline, No", and "That's Not Me" and claimed conceptual input on three songs. He agreed to receive 25% of publishing royalties, a share he considered disproportionate to his contributions.
In Marilyn's recollection, Brian worked on Pet Sounds virtually nonstop, and that when he was home, "he was either at the piano, arranging, or eating." Asher recalled, "I wish I could say Brian was totally committed . Let's say he was... um, very concerned." After their songs were completed, Asher observed a few recording sessions, mostly those involving string overdubs.
Wilson collaborated on two additional tracks. "I Know There's an Answer", written before working with Asher, was co-written with Beach Boys road manager Terry Sachen. In 1994, Mike Love received retroactive co-writing credits for "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "I Know There's an Answer", though his contributions beyond "I'm Waiting for the Day" are generally regarded as minimal. The remaining two instrumental tracks, "Let's Go Away for Awhile" and "Pet Sounds", were composed by Wilson alone. They were originally recorded as backing tracks for existing songs, but by the time the album neared completion, he decided that the tracks were more effective without vocals.
Inspiration and lyrics
Concept, Wall of Sound, and ''Rubber Soul''
Commentators frequently cite Pet Sounds as a concept album, with some considering it the first such work in rock music. Wilson had sought to create "a complete statement" with Pet Sounds, inspired by the Beatles' Rubber Soul, released in December 1965. The American edition of Rubber Soul, reconfigured by Capitol to emphasize a cohesive folk rock sound, struck Wilson as a unified work free of filler tracks—uncommon at a time when albums primarily served to promote singles. Contrasting the Beach Boys' earlier albums, which sometimes included lighter material, Wilson viewed Rubber Soul as a challenge to elevate his approach, declaring to his wife, "I'm gonna make the greatest album! The greatest rock album ever made!"File:Phil Spector with MFQ 1965.png|thumb|right|alt=Spector standing around musicians in the studio|Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, where he developed his Wall of Sound method
Carl stated his brother held greater admiration for Phil Spector over the Beatles, with Brian frequently crediting Spector's methods as foundational to his own production style. Brian identified Pet Sounds as an "interpretation" of Spector's Wall of Sound formula, with the production informing the album's intended "concept". He stated:
Musicologist Michael Zager contrasted Pet Sounds with Rubber Soul, writing that the former more closely aligns with Spector's Wall of Sound through its incorporation of the technique's hallmarks. Wilson said that he was especially fascinated with combining color tones to create new textures, aiming to emulate those aspects of Spector's productions. In a 1988 interview, he framed the Beach Boys via Pet Sounds as "messengers" of Spector's work, stating his goal was to expand upon Spector's innovations.
Wilson later credited Rubber Soul as his "main motivator" for Pet Sounds. He explained that while inspired to create music "on the same level" as Rubber Soul, he was not interested in replicating the Beatles' sound. In 2009, Wilson said that although "Rubber Soul didn't clarify my ideas for Pet Sounds", the Beatles' use of sitar had inspired his choice of instrumentation for the album. In a 1966 interview, he contrasted their approaches, suggesting his arrangements would have expanded tracks like "Norwegian Wood" with orchestration, "background voices", and "a thousand things".