Aquin said:

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Your article admits the BBs were the best. They had four part harmony on every song. Not much of that on I want to Hold you Hand. The Beatles acted more like back up singers than actually singing four part harmony. Harmonizing with a lead singer is not four part harmony.

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Nice attempt at deflecting your statement. I never said anything close to denying that beach boys had great harmonies.

But YOU said Beatles 'mostly sang in unison'. I'll say it again, that is completely incorrect.

You didn't say beatles never did 4 part harmonies.. I'd agree with that aside from a few exceptions. Beatles had loads of harmonies (simply defined as 2 or more voices) on every single album. Often with 3 voices, but almost always with 2.

AIC has been termed the lennon/mcC of grunge era for a reason, they did harmonies on majority of their songs too.

62strat said:

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AIC has been termed the lennon/mcC of grunge era for a reason, they did harmonies on majority of their songs too.

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I like AIC, but comparing them to Lennon/McCartney is a stretch. Their harmonies were distinct because of the minor keys, but they had a limited number of hits and a pretty small slice of the pop music scene. They were grunge OGs but fell off the front page about 10 minutes after Pearl Jam and Nirvana came out. Unlike Lennon/McCartney (or The Beach Boys) they never attained relevance after their heyday. Jerry Cantrell was unmatched vocally until Soundgarden.

I don't know. Maybe I'm still upset about Cantrell going out the way he did.

The Beach Boys played in G. Rollie my Sr. year at A&M. I believe it was in the spring (1980). It was the most fun concert my wife and I have ever been to. The audience--all Aggies of course--some how danced in unison. And sang in unison. Even the BB were amused by the audience.

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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Here's the billboard top 100 at the end of 1965.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1965

When you think of these songs in context to "pet sounds", it's pretty apparent why people rave about the album the way they do. There was nothing else like it that was mainstream and that people liked. Brian Wilson took some pretty out there stuff and made it not only listenable but popular.

Not trying to get you to like it because people like what they like but to provide some context.

Quote:

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When you think of these songs in context to "pet sounds", it's pretty apparent why people rave about the album the way they do.

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??????

As you said, people like what they like, but that list includes many of the greatest songs of the 60s from the Beatles, Stones, Herman's Hermits, Dylan (!), Yardbirds, Supremes, Box Tops, Kinks, Temptations, Tom Jones, along with one-hit wonders such as "You Were on My Mind."

#1 is an oddball, I grant you that, and the last ten are nothing to crow about, but almost all the remainder are amazing songs.

Maybe it's a "You had to be there" thing.

OldArmy71 said:

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Quote:

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When you think of these songs in context to "pet sounds", it's pretty apparent why people rave about the album the way they do.

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??????

As you said, people like what they like, but that list includes many of the greatest songs of the 60s from the Beatles, Stones, Herman's Hermits, Dylan (!), Yardbirds, Supremes, Box Tops, Kinks, Temptations, Tom Jones, along with one-hit wonders such as "You Were on My Mind."

#1 is an oddball, I grant you that, and the last ten are nothing to crow about, but almost all the remainder are amazing songs.

Maybe it's a "You had to be there" thing.

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I was born in the 80's.

Lot of great songs on there I agree but that's not the point. The point is nothing that sounded like what The Beach Boys did on pet sounds. It was completely different and revolutionary and still mainstream. It's hard to do. I don't particular love The Beach Boys but I really enjoy music history and music theory so it's fun for me to imagine hearing music without having heard all the things I've heard that were made near or after it's release.

For example, imagine hearing Black Sabbath iron man for the first time in 1970 when all you had heard was stuff like "crimson and clover", "build me up butter cup", Motown stuff, Elvis, the Beatles and it's all great music but there was little that compared. Hendrix was dead but only had released "are you experienced" a couple of years prior and cream had real eased some stuff but music didn't travel like it does now. Zeppelin released their first album in 69. It might have taken years for something to go from the studio to a persons ears for the first time.

Just take a second and think how badass it must have been to hear those opening power chords to iron man in that context. I know I'm weird but I think it's super cool. Same thing with pet sounds. Knowing what was around music wise then and hearing that album is pretty amazing. I don't listen to it for my own personal enjoyment often but I do appreciate it

Ah, got you. I misunderstood you. Sorry. You are making a very good point.

Champ Bailey said:

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Bruce Almighty said:

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Bob Loblaws Law Blog said:

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Charles Manson was influenced by the Beach Boys, so they definitely had an impact.

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He was friends with the drummer, but he was inspired by The Beatles, specifically Helter Skelter.

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Dennis invited Manson to live with him, got scared of everything he was into, and then moved out of his house because he was too scared to kick him out is what I had always heard.

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And they wrote songs together, so while my post was a little tongue in cheek, Manson was certainly "influenced" by The Beach Boys. Just maybe not to the extent he wanted to start a race war.

The group that toured with John Stamos a few years ago was really good.

Do NOT go see Brian Wilson these days. Very sad. There's nothing left there.

Saw Mike Love and Al Jardine perform as The Beach Boys with John Stamos 5 years ago in Austin. That was a really fun concert with great pop songs, and how I traditionally thought of the Beach Boys when I was a kid in the early 90s.

Later that same summer, I saw Brian Wilson perform Pet Sounds in Grapevine. I was way more excited for that concert, and even though the harmonies from the previous "Beach Boys" concert were better, seeing Pet Sounds was just thrilling. Brian Wilson is a treasure, though he's certainly no showman.

I had grown up as a huge Beatles fan, and the Beach Boys were generally a pop afterthought; I now completely see why the Beach Boys do deserve to be in the same discussion. Pet Sounds, and what was created during The Smile Sessions (and a few years before and after) are as creative and beautiful as anything the Beatles did.

Surprisingly, what re-ignited my interest to explore the Beach Boys several years back was Love & Mercy movie. Highly recommend it.

When I saw him in El Paso a couple of years ago, his son did most of the singing and he was just kinda propped up at his keyboard like a showpiece. It was sad.

Good thread. They are definitely a very interestingly positioned band in music history. Whether it's the surfer stuff or the deeper stuff, they were fantastic. Brian is a genius.

Was fortunate enough to see them in 2012 at Bonnaroo w/ Brian, Al, Mike, Bruce and David + a lot of backup singing help. So happy I was able to at least get a piece of the magic considering I wasn't alive in their heyday

I just watched a PBS American Masters episode on Brian Wilson. Really well done, at the end you understand him in a way at least I didn't before.
It does get into what made Pet Sounfs so revolutionary. They do a whole segment breaking down the individual pieces of God only Knows, and how remarkably different it was, all coming from a 23 year old on his own basically. And they interview some big names who clearly are enamored with them, and name a number of others.
Would recommend.

Gotta look for this.

I grew up listening to them because they were my mom's favorite band. Saw them in concert twice in the 90s, once with Chicago, and they were a blast. I didn't read the whole thread, but for me what makes them so great is that they ushered in the surfing music era, and for most bands, that woulda been it, but they kept reinventing and reinventing their music to be fantastic with what people were looking for. They are a lot like the Beatles in that a lot of their early stuff is 2-1/2 minutes of pop beat, but the songs that most people would list as their favorites are the later stuff. Carl Wilson on Good Vibrations is in my all-time all-time, but "God Only Knows" and "Don't Worry Baby" are just knock-down, drag-out gorgeous hits that I never turn off.

It's here if you have a PBS subscription. Good trailer on it too.

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/stream-brian-wilson-documentary/21858/