PET SOUNDS – THE BEACH BOYS May 1966 – Billboard #10 What more could possibly be said about “Pet Sounds” that hasn’t already been said? Even Wikipedia’s entry goes on for forty pages, discussing the album’s social relevance, its artistic importance, and mostly its sheer brilliance. It has been re-released in a deluxe box set comprised of four cd’s and an entire booklet dedicated to its artistry, while virtually every ‘best of all time’ list that can be taken seriously always has this album in the top 10, and often at #1. Rather than add to the hyperbole with redundant observations, I think the best service we can offer is to just play the album in its entirety, and for the most part, let the music speak for itself.

Before starting though, I would like to acknowledge the opinions of a few close associates who confess to liking the album, but not loving it to the point that it has been extolled. Their main complaint is that the album is too melancholy and leaves them feeling more confused than inspired. To that argument, before playing the album, I would like to point out that up until 1966, there was no album that could be cited as even resembling “Pet Sounds” for its confessional nature. Not the Beatles, and certainly not the Stones, ventured anywhere near this level of vulnerability. Bob Dylan certainly used autobiography in his own songs, but virtually 100% of the time, he stood as an accuser, not a victim.

In rock and roll history, “Pet Sounds” might stand as the first time a major recording artist pulled back the veil on his own life, and shared his deepest insecurities with a listening audience. Just that fact alone would make “Pet Sounds” remarkable, but to do so with a collection of stunningly brilliant arrangements that defied the standard methodology of its time changed the course of pop music history. I’m hoping that as we play the album today, you may be able to hear it with the ears of someone who is hearing it for the first time in 1966. As such, I believe you will come much closer to understanding the lasting genius that “Pet Sounds” represents.

Featured tracks include;

1) Wouldn’t It Be Nice

2) You Still Believe in Me

3) That’s Not Me

4) Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)

5) I’m Waiting for the Day

6) Let’s Go Away for Awhile

7) Sloop John B

8) God Only Knows

9) I Know There’s an Answer

10) Here Today

11) I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times

12) Pet Sounds

13) Caroline, No

May 1966 - Billboard Charted #10