I watched an Authorized Bio of The Beach Boys filmed in the 70s (Amazon Prime). I love The Beach Boys, and they are an important part of American Music History and Culture. But I can't think of a single band that names them as an influence. Their led singer, Mike Love, sounds like a 3rd place Karaoke contestant who never knows what to do with his hands. The instrumentation is minimal, take the reverb and effects off the guitars and you wouldn't recognize it. One of their defining characteristics is a reclusive bass player who only sings falsetto. Barbershop quartet comes to mind when thinking about the vocals. Famous for surf music, yet none of them surfed!

All that is to say they somehow made a bunch of strange features come together to have formed a legendary American Iconic band. No guitar god, no legendary vocalist, no crazy rock stories, yet they somehow competed with the Beatles in the 60s. Obviously Brian Wilson is a musical genius and he put the pieces together to create something much larger than the individual pieces of the band.

They're such an interesting band that I love, but don't really understand. Good summer music.

Carl Wilson was a great singer.

I'd imagine Foster the People was influenced by them, but I'm not going to look it up.

Pet Sounds was and is hugely influential.

The Beatles have said that Sgt. Pepper's was influenced by Pet Sounds.
McCartney:"I played it to John so much that it would be difficult for him to escape the influence. If records had a director within a band, I sort of directed Pepper. And my influence was basically the Pet Sounds album. John was influenced by it, perhaps not as much as me. It was certainly a record we all played it was the record of the time, you know?"

They also influenced John Stamos. LOL

Being an influence to the Beatles is pretty much all you need. Put that on your resume, and you're done. Success achieved. But I think Pet Sounds was also Brian's reaction TO the Beatles. He was trying to match them.

Philo B 93 said:

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Being an influence to the Beatles is pretty much all you need. Put that on your resume, and you're done. Success achieved. But I think Pet Sounds was also Brian's reaction TO the Beatles. He was trying to match them.

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Correct, it was Rubber Soul that inspired Brian Wilson to make Pet Sounds.

Check out Love & Mercy. Fantastic movie about Brian Wilson.

Currently on Hulu.

Quote:

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Famous for surf music, yet none of them surfed

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Now, now. Dennis did surf.

I am 72 and generally enjoyed the Beach Boys music, especially "I Get Around" and "Don't Worry Baby."

One of my (very few) Celebrity Encounters occurred in Tulsa OK in Spring 1966. My family had gone to eat at a Ramada Inn buffet for lunch after church--this was high-end stuff, I'm telling you--and as I was helping myself to the salad bar I realized I was standing next to Dennis. He never made eye contact, but he knew I knew who he was and he was quite amused at my reaction. The group was in town for a concert; I had seen the billboards.

I was surprised at how short he was.

First great American rock band. Pure and simple

I am a millennial who grew up on classic rock and still favor it over any other genre. I somehow made it to 31 before I ever listened to Pet Sounds. I saw that it was on the Rolling Stone top 500 albums at #2. And after listening to it recently I just don't get it. The album is headlined by a very good "Wouldn't It Be Nice" that in my opinion is one of the catchiest and listenable songs of all time. But after that the album has not aged well and is honestly a chore to listen to. I understand it influenced a lot of other bands to make their own masterpieces. But besides "Wouldn't It Be Nice" it left me with no interest to hear it again.

OldShadeOfBlue said:

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I am a millennial who grew up on classic rock and still favor it over any other genre. I somehow made it to 31 before I ever listened to Pet Sounds. I saw that it was on the Rolling Stone top 500 albums at #2. And after listening to it recently I just don't get it. The album is headlined by a very good "Wouldn't It Be Nice" that in my opinion is one of the catchiest and listenable songs of all time. But after that the album has not aged well and is honestly a chore to listen to. I understand it influenced a lot of other bands to make their own masterpieces. But besides "Wouldn't It Be Nice" it left me with no interest to hear it again.

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Wouldn't it Be Nice is the third best song on that album behind God Only Knows and Sloop John B. IMO, God Only Knows is the greatest pop song of all time.

Sloop John B is such an awesome song

Big fan. Started surfing in HS, '62-'66, so the surfing music was fun, as was the car songs. However, when Don't Worry Baby came out , you realized that there was a lot more going on than just surfing music.

To understand the BBs you have to understand four part harmony. Brian Wilson, a musical genius, used the voices of the band members as instruments. There is no comparison to be made with the Beatles. They sang mostly in unison, on the same key and note. The harmony of the three brothers on In My Room is impressive. Admittedly, Mike Love does not have the greatest voice and his stage presence is lacking. But the way Brian structured the vocal parts is amazing. They catch a lot of flack for not playing instruments in the studio. That really is the whole point. It was the vocals and harmony that was the important part. As musicians they were pretty good. Some of the chords in their songs are never used by the average band. The closest band for harmony was the Association, but they did not have the staying power that the BBs had.

Everyone talks about Pet Sounds and I agree. However, the album right before it is very good, they are past the surfer stuff and are just a step away from Pet Sounds. Songs like Kiss me baby, Let Him Run Wild, and Please Let Me Wonder are excellent. Mike Love earns his keep by crafting so many of the lyrics.

My generation had some great music. However, the BBs captured a feeling. If I want to dust off an oldie, it will always be one of their songs and just let the sunshine wash over this broken down old man.

Aquin said:

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Big fan. Started surfing in HS, '62-'66, so the surfing music was fun, as was the car songs. However, when Don't Worry Baby came out , you realized that there was a lot more going on than just surfing music.

To understand the BBs you have to understand four part harmony. Brian Wilson, a musical genius, used the voices of the band members as instruments. There is no comparison to be made with the Beatles. They sang mostly in unison, on the same key and note. The harmony of the three brothers on In My Room is impressive. Admittedly, Mike Love does not have the greatest voice and his stage presence is lacking. But the way Brian structured the vocal parts is amazing. They catch a lot of flack for not playing instruments in the studio. That really is the whole point. It was the vocals and harmony that was the important part. As musicians they were pretty good. Some of the chords in their songs are never used by the average band. The closest band for harmony was the Association, but they did not have the staying power that the BBs had.

Everyone talks about Pet Sounds and I agree. However, the album right before it is very good, they are past the surfer stuff and are just a step away from Pet Sounds. Songs like Kiss me baby, Let Him Run Wild, and Please Let Me Wonder are excellent. Mike Love earns his keep by crafting so many of the lyrics.

My generation had some great music. However, the BBs captured a feeling. If I want to dust off an oldie, it will always be one of their songs and just let the sunshine wash over this broken down old man.

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You lost me at Beatles mostly sang in unison. That is massively incorrect. Just a small snippet of their harmonies.
https://dbradmusic.com/2012/04/10/my-insane-devotion-to-vocal-harmonies-as-used-by-the-beatles/